Watching interviews was so much more entertaining now that I knew the boys personally. This would be their first live interview and it would start in exactly 10 minutes. Presently, Taylor and I were sitting on the hotel mattress, freshly made to perfection by maid service. She'd just finished telling me about her and Zayn's first time which took place with her back pressed against the inside window of his car.
"So? Have you and Harry...?" She trailed off, giving me a look.
"Oh! Uhm, no. We haven't."
"Why not? Have you seen him? I'd tap that like a maple tree."
"Shh!" I laughed, lightly hitting her arm. "Shut up, Taylor! I'm just not ready yet."
"Suit yourself." She shrugged.
I was going to respond, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The two of us exchanged a look, confused as to who it would be. I crossed the room and looked through the small hole in the door. Abbey. I smiled and let her in.
"Abbey! Hey!" I'd only met her once, but I already liked her a lot. She and Niall were just friends, but I hoped that meant she'd stick around anyway.
"Hiya, Gaby." She giggled at the similar sound of our names when they were said so close together. "Is Niall around?"
"Nope, he and the boys are about to do a live interview. Do you want to come watch it with Taylor and I? You're more than welcome." I offered, wanting her to stay.
"Sure, I'd love to!" She responded enthusiastically.
I led her through the room and watched as she greeted Taylor. We all talked for the remaining minutes until the interview began.
"Let's start with the question that I'm sure is on everybody's mind." She began, "Liam, you're dating Danielle Peazer as of earlier this week?"
"Yes." He told her, his voice even more Liam-ish than usual. "We've been friends for such a long time. I really like her."
"Who else has a girlfriend?" Her question earned a hand raise from Louis and Zayn, a smile planted on both of their faces. I had to admit, I rolled my eyes at the sight of Harry's arm still at his side. I'm not sure why I did that, it was an accident- a natural response.
"Interesting. Because there has been some pictures going around lately... Of both Niall and Harry with a certain someone?"
"That's Abbey and Gaby." Niall explained with his signature smile. "They're just our best girl friends. As in girls that are friends. That's all. Abbey has a boyfriend actually, they just got back together."
"Harry?" She questioned. "Gaby is just a friend too?
"Well, uhm, basically, yes. We're just friends right now." I knew that he had to say that, that he didn't have a choice. But I couldn't help feeling my heart sink at how easy it was for him to lie like that. I tried to look deeper, to see if maybe deep in his eyes there was hesitation. But nothing. I tried not to think about it, not to read into it. I knew it was his job. I just couldn't shake the thought in the back of my head that, despite what I knew, I was just another fan to him. What if he only wanted the same thing as every other guy has wanted from me?
"I'm glad to hear that." Psh. She was glad to hear that. I scoffed. Why would she be glad? What if Harry and I were madly in love but couldn't be together? All she cared about was that he was single? Ignorant interview. I crossed my arms and pouted, just a little- another natural response.
The interview continued as so. The American interviews were always the worst because they only talked about things that I already knew. Given I knew most everything now, but still.
So instead of watching what we already knew, we decided to go out for coffee. That's when I first realized that things were different. It was just Taylor, me, and Abbey. We weren't with the boys. But as we stepped out and started walking toward Starbucks, we got stopped. Three times. Okay, I know, three times isn't much. But for just being Harry's friend? It was so weird. Taylor even signed an autograph. That's only the beginning, of course.
We were sitting at the table, drinking our coffees. Taylor drank her coffee black, Abbey got a white chocolate mocha, and I had a java chip frappucino. Just normal girls, drinking a normal beverage, right? Wrong, or so I soon found out.
A woman was walking toward us. She looked like she was in her mid twenties. She had full dark brown hair, she wore a gray pencil skirt and a black blouse, a notepad and pencil in her hand. She helped herself by pulling out the empty seat at our table and sitting down.
"Taylor, Gaby, Abbey. How are you ladies today?" She said, flipping her hair and crossing her legs over each other.
"Uhm, we're fine, thanks." Abbey told her, looking down at her hands that were currently wrapped around the cardboard sleeve on her cup.
"So, come on. Give me the details. Abbey, you and Niall aren't just friends, I mean come on. You too, Gaby. You're together all the time!"
"I have a boyfriend who I've been dating for quite awhile, actually." Abbey explained.
"And Harry is just my friend." I wondered if my lie was as smooth as Harry's had been just 15 minutes before.
"Can you go? We're trying to drink coffee." Taylor was quite blunt, though her honesty was refreshing.
"I'd just like to ask a couple questions."
"And I'd just like to drink my damn coffee." She continued to argue. Abbey and I exchanged a look of awkwardness. This lady was annoying, yes, but Taylor's temper was just a bit unjustified. "Come on, guys, let's just go. We'll have more privacy back at the hotel."
"The hotel room you're sharing with the boys? Scandalous. Oh! Taylor, are you cheating on Zayn? Have you seen the newest articles?"
"What? Of course not. Please, leave us alone."
I quietly apologized to the reporter as Taylor led us out of the small coffee shop. We only walked a block before we were being followed by another one, though her pen had the same magazine logo as the brunette girl from Starbucks. We made a few sharp turns to try to lose her among the crowded streets of the city, but that didn't work out as we'd planned. We did lose the journalist, we just lose each other as well. And let me tell you, being lost alone in New York City is not something you want to do. At the same time though, it was fun. Being just another person among so many strangers, people who knew nothing about you. In a way, it was almost like being completely alone. I had nobody to impress, nobody to behave for, no standards to live up to. I could do, say, or act any way I wanted and people would think it's just who I am. Something about that was so liberating.
Eventually, I managed to find my way back to the hotel, only to find Abbey and Taylor waiting for me outside the room.
"Oh, crap! I'm sorry, I forgot I had the room key!" I apologized, feeling a hint of guilt for taking so long to explore rather than just coming back.
"That's fine." Abbey laughed. "We bonded."
My lips pulled into a smile around the green straw coming from the clear plastic. As I attempted to get more of the frosty chocolate, the cup made a slurping sound in protest, telling me that it was gone.
The green light on the door lit, and I pushed it open. Taylor and Abbey walked in too, and looking at them, I knew that my life was different now than it had been two weeks prior. Now, I had not only an incredible boyfriend and four amazing guy friends, but my bond with these two girls was something I could never imagine being broken. And today would be our first memory together, not just as best friends, but as sisters.